Beauty regimes and cosmetic treatment of the skin, especially the face and neck are becoming more common and more desirable. Such products are often directed primarily to improving the health and/or physical appearance of the skin. Amongst these skin care products, many are directed to delaying, minimizing or even eliminating skin wrinkling and other histological changes typically associated with the aging of skin or environmental damage to human skin, such as photodamage. A large number of skin care actives are known in the art and used to improve the health and/or physical appearance of the skin. For example, salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide are used in skin care compositions to treat acne. Retinoids, are another example of skin care agents, and are used in skin care compositions to reduce signs of aging. Although formulating skin care compositions with such actives provide skin care benefits, there are also challenges in formulating such compositions. Skin care products should be provided in a form suitable for application to the skin, hence semi-viscous creams are preferable over lotions and highly viscous creams. The Applicants have also discovered that the feel of the product on the skin is also highly significant in the perception of efficacy and product experience.
There is therefore a continuing need to formulate skin care compositions which improve the health and/or physical appearance of the skin, which are for example, aesthetically pleasing, stable, and effective in treating the appearance of wrinkles, fine lines and skin tone.
Many preferred components of beauty composition are water soluble and thus, skin care compositions are water based in order to solubilise and/or stabilise said ingredients. However, the Applicants have found that whilst this might be an effective means by which to formulate the composition, the efficacy is reduced since the actives are essentially diluted by the presence of high levels of water. Moreover, said actives may also be easily washed off the skin before they have sufficient time to act. Oily components can provide a functional and/or aesthetic benefit to the skin, or improve the feel of the product on the skin or the delivery of the product to the skin. However, such actives are not soluble in a water based system and if prepared in an oil based system can be perceived as being unappealing, and oily.
The Applicants have surprisingly found that the peptides, particularly the dipeptides of the present invention, and preferably in combination with other peptides, provide exceptional benefits to skin and are most efficacious when delivered in an undiluted environment.